By SI.com
1) What must one do to tap Jon Fitch?
Against Diego Sanchez, who was undefeated until his last fight, Fitch spun out of triangles and slipped out of chokes. Pretty impressive, but not entirely unique.
More novel was his reaction to having the explosive Sanchez on his back with a forearm across his throat: Fitch gave a thumbs up, presumably to signal to ref Herb Dean that he was doing fine and that the fight should continue.
Talk about cool under pressure. Thumbs up? Maybe he can reach around and give his opponent bunny ears next time, just for kicks. Fitch's training mates say he can't be tapped, and it's hard not to believe them after his performance. "I'm pretty impossible to choke," Fitch said. "I've been in a deep choke in every one of my fights."
2) What's Not to Love About Chuck Liddell?
That was the title of ESPN the Magazine's cover story on the Iceman in the run up to his fight with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in May, and after this weekend, fans are probably ready with some answers.
Before that fight, Liddell was 20-3, and had avenged two of the three losses, with only Rampage still standing on the payback trail. Liddell was a god. He was going where no MMA fighter had gone before (i.e. the cover of ESPN the Magazine, a cameo on Entourage). It was startling when he lost to Rampage inside of two minutes, but it was absolutely inconceivable that, four months later, he would go the distance with, much less to lose to Keith "Dean of Mean" Jardine in a split decision. Jardine was a man widely considered to be cannon fodder, and perhaps just a loss or two away from irrelevancy.
So what happened? Is Liddell not all that the UFC hype machine made him up to be? It's hard to say at this point, but it certainly seems that Jardine, in a fight where neither man even attempted a takedown, was very aware of Liddell's weaknesses. Jardine normally has a tendency to walk right at an opponent, a strategy that would have made his head the perfect speed bag for Liddell's thunderous blows. But Jardine changed his style, and often beckoned Liddell forward rather than stalking him and allowing Liddell to circle backward and sideways and look for openings the way he likes.
Whatever Liddell's problem is, it's clear that he's going to have to expand his repertoire to regain his vaunted status.
3) Six Degrees of the Dean of Mean
This isn't exactly A.J. Liebling's opening to The Sweet Science, but hang with me:
Jardine won a split decision over Liddell on Saturday. Liddell beat Tito Ortiz in 2006. Ortiz beat Forrest Griffin, also in '06. Griffin beat Mauricio Rua on Saturday. Rua beat Quinton Jackson in '05. Jackson beat Dan Henderson earlier this month. Henderson beat Renzo Gracie in 2001. Gracie beat Maurice Smith in 1999. Smith beat Marco Ruas in May. Ruas beat Keith Hackney in 1995. Hackney, at UFC 3 in 1994, beat Emmanuel Yarborough, whose fighting weight has fluctuated between 600 and 800 pounds making him the heaviest pro athlete ever (his lone mixed martial arts victory came by "smother").
So: Beyond gutting out a stunning upset while bleeding profusely from his face and head on Saturday, Jardine connected 13 years of mixed martial arts via victories.
4) UFC 76 Awards:
Quote of the Night: Griffin, after his upset of Rua, gets gold, silver, bronze, and honorable mention.
1. "I haven't done that many drugs, but I bet this is what ecstasy feels like."
2. "[After the loss to Jardine last December] I got depressed and sad and ate a lot of cookies ... but then I thought, you're not good at anything else, you better get back in that ring and keep fighting."
3. [On his winning choke of Rua] "It's not even a good choke, but fatigue is a son-of-a-b----."
4. "I ain't that great, but I will fight anybody."
Gutsiest Entry-Song: Tyson Griffin for Eye of the Tiger (reminded me of when Michael Johnson wore gold spikes in the 1996 Olympics).
Most Unnecessary Identification: Randy Couture for wearing his ring credential. I want to meet the guy who gave him crap about getting in the building.
Best Ring Prop: Kazuhiro Nakamura for his pink parasol. He nearly did more damage putting eyes out on his way to the Octagon than he did in it.
Best Pre-Fight Routine: Forrest Griffin, who was shown before the fight wearing what looked like dime-store shades and drinking what looked like a Starbucks tea.
Best Marketing: Diego Sanchez for the Sacramento Kings logo on his butt.
Particularly cost-effective advertising when Sanchez sprawled. Anyone want to guess how much that prime real estate set the Maloof brothers back?
5) Becoming his own man
With the rising mainstream popularity of MMA, Bruce "Voice of the Octagon" Buffer has ceased to be the brother of boxing's "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!" guy. He has now officially become the, "It's time! ... To begin!" guy.
Pretty sweet deal for him. According to his web site, bufferzone.net (wasn't that my old car wash?), Buffer has actually managed and guided his older brother's career.
If you have any fight-heralding phrases worthy of trademark, you can contact him here and maybe he'll represent you too, if you're lucky. I'm stuck on "Commence to punching each other in the face!"
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